“We Think Beirut is a Great City”! Says Trance Duo Cosmic Gate in This Exclusive Interview

Trance lovers and Electronic music fans alike were extremely delighted to have had the chance to groove, enjoy and dance the night away to the music of the German Trance music duo Cosmic Gate, earlier this month in Lebanon. The duo comprised of Electronic musicians/DJ’s Claus Terhoeven (aka Nic Chagall) and Stefan Bossems (aka DJ Bossi) have numerous albums under their belt, as well as an extremely long list of singles, EP’s, mixes and remixes to boot! Cosmic Gate’s partnership has proved to be one of Electronic Dance music’s most successful combinations. The duo have made DJ Mag’s top 100 list numerous times, not to mention that 10 years into their career they became the highest climbers on the chat in 2009-2010. Best known for their club singles such as “Not Enough Time, “Body of Conflict”, “Analog Feel” and more Cosmic Gate, needless to say, has secured their space in EDM’s hall of fame. I was granted the chance to chat with Cosmic Gate to get the inside scoop on the fantastic duo…

How was Cosmic Gate formed?

It was by a chance studio session we had back in 1998, there was actually no plan behind forming a new project, it simply and totally happened by chance.

Do you feel working as a duo has made Cosmic Gate more successful, has it given you an extra strength per say?

You can always put strengths together being with 2 people. So yes, we definitely think it is an advantage to be two, in our eyes for sure, and in most cases.

Does Cosmic Gate play strictly trance?

It depends on what you see as Trance. The context of most tracks that we play sure are Trance…if you see Trance as the classic uplifting string kind of music, we sure do not just play Trance only.

How do you guys feel about all of the sub genres under Electronic music is it hard to be successful when there are many different types of music under the same genre?

We do not really care names or styles; our aim has always been to put out good music, no matter how people categorize it in the end. For us what counts more is that we create positive vibes with our music, make people happy (hopefully), and to create positive emotions while listening to it. This is what we want, no more, and no less.

Cosmic gate has been recognized on DJ Mag’s Top 100 chart more then once, how do you feel about that, have you seen the list do you agree with the names recognized on it?

There are a lot of things we agree with, also some we maybe see different but this doesn’t matter! The list is giving out a lot of energy and discussion within the scene. This maybe makes us all even work harder, so it is definitely a good thing for us in the end!

How are your experiences when playing in Lebanon?

We have played in Beirut before several times already. The gigs were always fantastic! The audience is really into the music and follows us in what we do. On top of all that, we think Beirut is a great city and we love Lebanese food a lot. There many reasons for us to always come back with pleasure.

Is Cosmic Gate currently on tour? If yes, how is the tour going?

We are touring, actually during the whole year. Since the release of our latest album, we are doing the “wake your mind” tour. This is the name of our album and the tour is going fantastic, sold out shows and great vibes wherever we travel to. It’s an amazing feeling and experience for sure.

Do guys prefer touring or working on albums in the studio?

We like both, one would not work without the other in the same way, so both are important and fun to us at the same time. We could not put one over the other.

What Cosmic Gate album are you guys most proud of and why?

If you ask a mom which kid she likes most, you will not get an answer, and same goes for our albums or music in general, they are all our babies and we love them the same, [laughing out loud]!

Do you have any advice for DJ’s who are looking to go down the same career path as Cosmic Gate?

We think it is important to innovate, find your own kind of sound, both as DJ’s and even more as producers. Be unique and do not copy others. Follow your heart, we think this is very important!

Any sneak peaks or news for fans regarding the future of Cosmic Gate?

Absolutely, this week it is the release of Ministry of Sounds Trance Nation CD, that we had the pleasure to be mixing this time, after colleagues like Above and Beyond or Rank 1 did it in the past, so watch out for this double CD if you like our sound. It will be worth it!

Later in the year, there will be more singles released from our album Wake Your Mind, always with brand new and unreleased remixes.

Furthermore the Wake Your Mind Tour the tour will continue and we work on new music again, e.g. our new single “Crushed” that we produced exclusive for Trance Nation is released now, so there is a lot in the pipeline and another busy year to come for us.

Last words from Electronic Music masters:Thanks for the interview BeirutNightLife.com! It was a pleasure, till the next time! –Cosmic Gate